Loki's Game (18 page)

“I have an exhibit to run,” she snapped, and pulled loose from his grip. He allowed her to move, but caught her wrist and turned her back toward him.

“Remember, girl, you came to me.”

“Yes, I remember.”

“If you get in my way, I will kill you too.”

“Funny,” she mused, and smirked at him as she ripped loose from his grasp, “I thought you were planning to do that anyway.”

Chapter Seventeen

Loki was pissed off. Rowan had at least managed to accomplish that much by showing his face. Granted, such action could very well have put Lily in even more danger, but it had to be done. He only hoped Lily could run crowd control while he slipped Loki away and dispatched him.

As the last of the patrons moved into the gallery and Lily with them, Rowan moved around the corner, slipping through the door just as it fell closed. His eyes widened of their own accord as he looked around the room. Lily wasn’t kidding; Loki had at least one of every weapon Rowan could name, and some he had never seen before.

More than once he caught Lily’s gaze, followed immediately by a stern look from Loki, who was less than thrilled with his presence, and incapable of doing anything about it. Rowan tried not to feel smug, but it didn’t work. Despite the immediate danger, he enjoyed the hell out of the inconvenience his presence caused. It would work better if he could get to Lily, but he would be pushing his luck to try.

An irrational snarl of fury tangled in his gut as he glanced down at the case containing his father’s journal. Writing he hadn’t seen in more than three centuries until the previous night, the last link to his parents and his past, lay beneath inch-thick glass, in the possession of a thieving god.

As the crowd began to thin, leaving less and less distraction for Loki, Rowan slipped down the hallway and into the stairwell of the old building, Rowan stripped away his tuxedo, piece by piece. It would be a shame to destroy such a fine piece of tailoring, and while Dane might rake him across the coals for getting it dirty, at least it would still be in one piece. He shoved his clothes under the stairs, behind an old buffing machine, and took a moment to feel the cold air whispering around his ankles. The scents of food, perfume, and cigar smoke permeated the air, making it hard for him to pick out Loki’s specific scent.

But Lily’s…that was too easy. He would recognize that strawberry-and-summer scent across dimensions. Certain now that he’d been spotted, Loki would likely hang close to her, and Rowan knew he could use her scent to find him.

* * * * *

The crowd had come, eaten, and observed. Now it was down to the last few stragglers, the true history buffs that wanted to either argue the mythological origins, or the new-age nuts that whole-heartedly
believed.
Lily banished the train of thought before she could bash either side. She wasn’t part of either crowd, yet she still wanted to dispute what she believed.

And Rowan…his presence in the room was both a blessing and a burden. With him there she felt safe, but she was drawn to him like a moth to the proverbial flame. Her gaze shifted to him over and over, but Loren’s arm around her waist or his hand on her shoulder kept her rooted to the spot and his side.

Careful of your actions,
he’d warned early in the night, and so far she had heeded that warning well. But Rowan slipped from view, and her heart fell. It was over. Rowan had failed. Loren still walked free, and with every second that passed, Lily grew closer to losing everything.

She had to get away from him, and had no idea how to do so. The safest bet was the storage room—claiming she needed cleaning supplies. Surely he wouldn’t follow her there, and if he did, she would still have a valid reason for taking so long.

“I need to get ready for close-down,” she whispered to Loki.

“I’ll come with you.”

Damn.
“Don’t be silly,” she sighed, trying to keep her voice light. “There are still patrons. One of us needs to be out here and I’m the one that’s at work.” Lily paused, then looked up at him, determined to play every card in her hand to get out if need be. “Besides, the storage room is nowhere near the door he just went out of.”

Loki didn’t appear convinced, but he released his hold on her. Relief swept through her, and she pushed up on her toes to kiss his lips. The action surprised him; his eyebrows rose to his hairline.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” she promised, and swept from the room before he could respond. She breathed a rattling sigh of reprieve as the storage doors closed behind her. The cleaner and rags sat on one of the boxes, but she stuffed them under a series of discarded table covers to buy some time. If he did come looking for her, she could claim what she needed had been misplaced.

As expected, the door opened several moments later. Afraid to turn around, Lily busied herself by making a production of rifling through cabinets in search of her supplies.

“Are we alone in here?”

Lily froze, let that thick, rich voice pour over her. But…how had she not sensed him before? Simple. She was worrying, and trying not to pay attention to her surroundings.

“Lily, look at me.” She paused, and slowly turned to face him. The sight of him was a welcome relief, and tears rushed to her eyes.

“Rowan…thank God,” she breathed, and raced into his arms. The feel of his strong body against her broke open the flood gates. With tears streaming down her face, Lily dragged his face down and kissed him. In a moment of perfect happiness, their mouths met but it was…off. He tasted wrong. Maybe it was just stress, but it dawned on her as well that he wasn’t as warm as usual. It was cold outside, she knew, but that had never seemed to matter before.

As the kiss drew to a close, she looked up at him. He was the same, except his eyes. Where she usually found passion and adoration, she found an odd lack of any emotion at all. The discovery tickled some buried thought that she couldn’t quite recall. Then his gaze swept over her, and her heart kicked up a beat. “I’ve missed you,” he said, voice low. He raised a hand to her face and drew his fingertips over her cheekbone. “I need you, Lily.”

He lifted her from her feet and raised her to sit on a clear expanse of counter, stepping between her knees. His body pressed flush against hers, pushing her legs apart, and the slit in the side of her dress ripped almost to the hip. He didn’t seem to notice.

“Rowan, this isn’t safe,” she protested as his lips descended on hers once more, silencing her argument. As his tongue swept over her bottom lip, though, she stopped caring. His mouth moved over hers, then to her cheek. He nipped at her ear, and licked a trail down her throat. When his fingers passed over the ring at her throat, it shivered.

She and Rowan both froze. He looked at it, then passed his finger over it again. The band shivered again, vibrating against her skin. She lifted it to her gaze, turning it over in her fingers. It was as if his touch had triggered some hidden catch; small runes danced along the inside of the band. She glanced up at him, and as recognition dawned in his features, realization sprouted in her mind. The speech pattern was wrong…the roughness of his touch… Oh, God…

This was not Rowan.

This was Loki.

He’d found the ring.

Lily pushed him backwards and shimmied off the counter. “I need to get back out there,” she said, and went toward the spot where she’d stashed the cleaner.

“Maybe I should hold on to the ring…in case he sees it.”

She hedged. “I’m okay.”

“Lily,” his voice held a warning. She could hear that now—the ice buried in his tone. The timbre was all wrong. She shivered.

“I promise, Rowan. Let me close up, okay?”

“Give me the ring.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because you told me not to.”

He hesitated. “Mistake,” he said. “It’s safer with me.” Again, a manner of speaking that was wholly unlike Rowan. Lily quickly uncovered the cleaner and shifted toward the door, but her path was blocked.

Loki. As himself.

“Give me the ring, Lily.”

She couldn’t run. With no other option, as Loki advanced on her, she raised the bottle and sprayed the cleaner into his face. Even he was not fast enough to dodge the aerosol discharge completely. He shifted to one side, and clutched at his face, giving her the space she needed to throw open the door and run.

Lily made it as far as the gallery before the heel on her right shoe snapped and pitched her into the floor. She scrambled, tangled in her torn dress. She couldn’t find her footing.

A feline snarl broke the silence, and looming over her as she looked up was a huge, jet-black panther. Lily took a deep breath, and praying Rowan was close enough to hear as Loki’s four large paws stepped over her, pinning her to the floor, she screamed.

* * * * *

Bracing himself against the pain, Rowan pulled his power around himself like a cloak. Slivers of pain raced through his veins, twisting along muscle and bone as his body contorted and fur started to grow. Biting hard on his bottom lip to stifle the cry of agony associated with the shift, Rowan crouched toward the ground and let it take him.

When he stood again, he stood on four strong, solid paws. The cold no longer registered against his skin, and the draft caught his fur in a soft rustle. The animal instinct rose in the center of his brain.

Hunt.

Kill.

Protect his mate.

Rowan growled, a low snarl that echoed up the stairwell, and nosed open the door. On the other side of the wall, soft music still played. Somewhere near the back of the building, Lily screamed, but the sound came to an abrupt halt.

He sat back on his haunches, tipped his head to the ceiling, and howled. She was gone.

* * * * *

Lily closed her eyes and turned her face away. She knew her life was over, and yet her mind was strangely blank. Ignoring the wet puffs of breath on her cheek, she closed her hand around the ring and held tightly to it.

The low growl in his throat intensified, and a sickening sense of vertigo slipped over her. The world felt as if it were toppling over and over itself, loosening her hold on reality. The air shifted and the musty scent of the gallery was replaced with the clean, fresh scent of forest and water. Lily’s eyes flew open, her heart racing, and in a rush of fur the panther’s body flew across the room. His claws left a deep gouge in her shoulder, and the pain brought with it a wave of nausea that she fought hard to beat back.

The first thing she discovered was blistering pain. The second thing was the bright light of day. Clutching her torn shoulder she struggled into a sitting position as Loki, nude and in human form, came toward her from the edge of the tree line with the stained broadsword in his hand. They were outside. During the day. But this outside was nothing like she had ever seen before. The bright light around her carried a fine, blue-green hue. Everything seemed larger here, including Loki.

“W-where are we?” she asked, certain she didn’t want to know the answer.

“Asgard,” Loki replied. “Away from that meddling wolf.”

“Why have you brought me here?”

“You have something I want.”

“You aren’t getting the ring.”

“We are in my land, sweetheart,” Loki said with a cruel laugh and stalked toward her. “There is little you can do to stop me here.” Letting go of her shoulder, Lily closed her hand around the ring. Loki, unfazed, stabbed the sword into the ground and knelt before her, his hand extended.

“Give it to me.”

“You’re going to have to kill me,” she said, sounding much braver than she felt.

“That can be arranged,” he sneered and took hold of her wrist. Lily winced as he squeezed, popping the delicate bones with sudden, sharp pressure. She bit down hard on her lip to stifle her cry of pain, but she refused to let go of the small, gold band.

As her resolve started to crumble, Lily closed her eyes and took a shallow, shuddering breath. Her hold faltered, the band slipping between her fingers. The sharp jerk of the chain stung her skin but Loki dropped her arm, having gained his bounty.

A loud, banging crash echoed across the clearing, and Loki grunted. She lay there in the soft, dewy grass, cradling her ruined hand to her chest and listened to the sounds of battle. Someone yelped. And several heavy grunts issued forth. Lily turned toward the sound of the scuffle and forced her eyes open. A blur of tumbling fur and gnashing teeth greeted her. She could only discern the two by the colors of their pelts until Rowan caught Loki by the throat and flung him to the ground, bringing one large paw down against his head.

The wolf flew backwards, and Lily lost the fight again. Over and over Rowan was beaten back, bitten, raked. His strength was failing; she had to do something. Lily glanced around terrified. The sword stood in the ground next to her but she couldn’t wield it one-handed. It was too big.

The exhausted yelp from Rowan kicked her into motion. He was pinned.

Fighting her own pain, Lily jerked the blade from the ground and dragged it toward the fight. She tried to raise it, but she was too weak.

And Loki saw her. He lunged for her and she rolled away, dropping the weapon. Screaming, she tried to flee, but his teeth sank into her already damaged shoulder. A weak gurgle echoed up her throat as he released her and swatted her.

She rolled away, the world a blur. Her side hit a stone buried in the grass, and shards of pain shot up and down her body. Then the pain stopped, replaced by a strange numbness and the floating feeling of timelessness. The world around her seemed to slow down into minute-long seconds. Everything appeared suspended in clear gel, taking effort to keep moving forward.